Open-Xchange OX App Suite Gets Improved OX Documents Integration

A fresh and redesigned user interface also comes to the OX App Suite, which is available to users through Open-Xchange partners that provide email hosting services.

Open-Xchange has revamped the user interface and greatly improved document handling in its OX App Suite, which was unveiled in November 2012 as a central portal where users can work on everything from their corporate email to their Facebook and other social media feeds, Gmail accounts, photos, videos and much more.
The company unveiled the improvements to the cloud-based product in a July 9 announcement that touted the changes, which will drastically reduce the number of steps they will have to take to make changes and edits to a document that has been received in an email.
The new user interface has been streamlined to make it easier to use and includes enhanced features and customization options, according to the company. A new "flat design" approach brings "improved handling of dropdown menus and configurations while also offering more flexible viewing modes, color schemes and conversation management tools," the company said.
Frank Hoberg, executive vice president of sales for OX, told eWEEK in a telephone interview that previous updates to the OX App Suite were aimed at the IT operations side of the product, whereas the latest updates bring key changes for end users and their needs.

"It's more streamlined, and it can run more easily on all devices," said Hoberg of the new changes. "It has easier customization and a more user-centric approach."

One example of the easier usability, he said, is that users previously had to open an email, detach a document, make changes and then reattach a document before sending it back to another user. Now, a user can access a document by opening an email and making needed changes before returning it, in far fewer steps, he said. "We more tightly integrated the email models. The integration is meant to make it nicer for users and give them a better experience, especially on mobile devices."
Also included in the latest update is automatic document storage for users in OX Drive so that all versions of all documents are saved without the need for any user intervention, according to Hoberg.
The OX App Suite was originally unveiled in November 2012 by Open-Xchange. The OX App Suite is available by subscription from Open-Xchange partners that provide enhanced paid email hosting services, such as Namecheap, 1&1, Surftown, EuroDNS and others. Subscribers can choose to include the entire OX App Suite in their services, or can buy access to each component individually, according to Open-Xchange. End users are able to view their content using a Web browser on any device, including tablets, laptops, smartphones and desktop computers.
In April 2014, Open-Xchange launched added the OX Spreadsheet to the App Suite, giving users the ability to create spreadsheets that work with files from Microsoft Office and other office suites. A presentation app, OX Presentation, is scheduled to debut in the first quarter of 2015. The OX Spreadsheet lets users edit and share spreadsheets wherever they are, using an HTML5 Web browser on any device, according to the company. OX Spreadsheet is compatible with Microsoft Office and OpenOffice and has a familiar appearance for users who are using similar office suites.
The OX applications allow users to edit their documents in a Web browser, without having to download or install any software to their machines.
The previously released OX Text app allows direct editing capabilities for Microsoft Word .docx files and OpenOffice or LibreOffice .odt files, which means they can easily be transferred and worked on by many users.
The OX Text word processing application was released in 2013, and an OX Presentation app is slated to be available in the first quarter of 2015.